This invention relates to an apparatus for applying a lining of refractory material, cement, heat-insulating material or other insulating materials over the refractory layers of a converter or a furnace including an electric furnace and an open-hearth furnace or a vessel with great mobility and efficiency.
In conventional lining operations, the lining material is generally produced at a location remote from the lining operation site and then is transferred to the operation site by means of a long compression supply tube wherein the long floor-laid tube hampers the movement of the lining device when it must move from one converter to another, resulting in an inefficient lining operation.
Furthermore, since the water storage tank, refractory material tank, compressor and the like which are required in the lining operation occupy a large floor area, the operation cannot be conducted efficiently or with adequate mobility.
In addition, these devices are usually located in spaced apart locations so that a central control system for the spraying apparatus is hard to achieve. Therefore, at least several workers are required to operate the apparatus.
Meanwhile, in the lining operation, the lining apparatus is moved to a position adjacent to the upper open end of the furnace. Subsequently, the long spray pipe is extended into the furnace and the spray nozzle attached to the extremity of the spray pipe is directed toward the abraded or eroded portion of the furnace lining and the desired amount of refractory material is sprayed onto the above portion so as to repair the lining of a furnace.
In this case, the operator controls the spray pipe while observing the movement thereof.
However, the mere manipulation of the spray pipe is often inadequate to insure coverage of all of the abraded portion on the furnace lining because they are not all within the sprayable range of the spray pipe.
For example, as shown in FIG. 14, when the spray nozzle is directed from one abraded portion to another in some cases the spray pipe will come into contact with the upper periphery of the furnace if the lining apparatus is kept in the same position. In these cases, the apparatus as a whole must be moved a certain distance to prevent breaking the spray pipe. The operation to move the apparatus conventionally requires that the operator get off the apparatus or shift his position on the apparatus thereby making the operation very cumbersome.
Furthermore, since the rotation of the spray pipe is effected manually by an ON-OFF switching operation, it is hardly possible to apply a refractory material uniformly or efficiently onto the abraded or eroded portion of a considerably large area. It is also considerably difficult for an operator to conduct two operations simultaneously, namely reciprocation and occilation of the spray pipe.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for applying a lining onto the inner surface of a furnace which overcomes the aforementioned disadvantages and which is capable of conducting the lining operation with great mobility and efficiency.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for applying a lining onto the inner surface of a furnace wherein the spray nozzle can uniformly and efficiently apply refractory material onto the eroded or abraded portion of the inner surface of a furnace or vessel.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for applying a lining onto the inner surface of a furnace that includes a central control system with which an operator can manipulate all the devices mounted on the transport car easily and precisely.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for repairing the lining of a furnace by means of which the entire spraying operation including the manipulation of the spray pipe as well as the steering of the transport car can be conducted by a single operator while sitting on the seat mounted on the apparatus throughout the spraying operation.